Sins Among Royals

Returning to the castle in the early afternoon after having explored the town a little bit Indie was more than a little sleepy. They were able to find furniture she needed for her new apartment and a few extras that needed to be shipped in from a larger city.

Stepping through the front door of the expansive castle Noah was quickly approached by a man in a suit, “my apologies Master Noah but your parents request your presence immediately regarding an urgent matter,” as he spoke the man looked sideways at Indie as if he were trying to hide the words he spoke

Noah glanced back at Indie and frowned, “I’m sorry. This sounds important. Will you be alright alone? I’ll send Amber to keep you company,” he smiled and kissed Indie quickly before ducking offend leaving her alone in the grand foyer.

Indie clasped her hands in front of her as she began swaying on the spot. What would she do to keep herself occupied? Her thoughts wandered to Grace before a thought struck her. Perhaps she could wander off and find the prison where they held Medea. Indie wanted answers that only Medea could provide.

Entering the castle a little more she turned down a corridor and marveled at how long and wide it was. On one side there were windows from floor to ceiling and on the other there were paintings of various sizes dotting the walls in measured intervals.

Turning in one direction Indie began walking along the cast empty space. She stared at the paintings on the wall that were mostly landscapes and waterscapes. All of them looked extremely old and as she stopped to admire one of them a painting right next to it piqued her interest.

At first she stared at it as a whole. It was a group of men who all looked rather chummy, there were a dozen or so all dressed in fine looking suits standing outside in a perfectly manicured surrounding. Indie stepped closer towards the painting and noticed the castle stood on its rocky pedestal like hill in the distance. The closer she got the more she examined all the faces present in the painting, it must have been a joyous occasion. Some of the men pictured were leaning g against each other and others were pretending to rough house, no matter what they were doing all their faces were visible and as she looked closer one of the faces stuck out more than the others.

“Indie!” She heard someone call her name as she quickly stepped back and looked down the corridor to see Amber walking towards her. To Indies surprise she was dressed casually in normal clothing and not the black uniform the security usually donned.

“Hi Amber!” She replied quickly, “what are you doing?” Amber hurried towards Indie with a bright smile on her face. She seemed extremely happy.

Reaching her side Amber looked up at the painting Indie had been looking closely at, “oh! The appointment of the Alpha’s after the last big fight,” Amber muttered quickly. It was a portrait that spoke great volumes of how far the united packs had come under the Blackwell leadership.

“The what what?” Indie parroted as she looked back at the painting, at the one face that looked familiar to her.

“You haven’t heard of it?” Amber asked as her brow furrowed. Everyone knew of the last war before the packs had been united. “How Master Noah’s great great great grandfather united all the packs? This is the portrait of the day he appointed his main pack leaders. One of them is probably the Alpha of your area.” Amber began looking closely at the painting.

“It’s that one,” Indie pointed out as Amber narrowed her eyes and looked closely at the face.

“Hey look at that gorgeous smile,” she commented quickly as she glanced back at Indie. “How’d you know that’s your Alpha?” but before Indie could answer Amber looked back at the portrait then back to Indie. “No way! Is that.....is he a relation of yours?” Though generations had passed there was still a resemblance.

“But I didn’t know my great great great grandfather was an Alpha,” if her family truly had control of Aspen and Stoneden three generations ago why did they not have it now? What had happened to see Alpha Thornton in that spot and not the Joneses?

“Oh that’s awkward,” Amber commented idly. Her brow furrowed again before she repressed the thought. She would have to ask someone like Wade if he knew anything about it. “Anyway Master Noah sent me to keep you company.”

Upon changing the subject Amber noticed a sly grin press itself against Indies lips, “can we pay a visit to Medea?”

At first Amber was hopeful her day off would be full of relaxation. She thought that perhaps Indie might want to get her hair done or chill out and watch a movie or play a game but it seemed that Amber’s wishes were not exactly what Indie had in mind. “Why on earth would you want to go and see her? I can tell you now she won’t be happy to meet you and Master Noah won’t be happy either when he finds out.”

The grin on Indies face just grew wider, “no one has to know and Noah doesn’t need to find out.” Indie was being mischievous but she wanted answers. Zoe’s remarks about Grace being a witch had struck a chord with the young woman and she wanted to know if Medea did it of her own accord or if she was made to by someone else.

“I am blaming this all on you if Master Noah finds out!” Amber pouted and crossed her arms.

“Yes fine blame me but really what hard could it do? I just want to meet the girl that almost denied me of my future.” Indie chuckled as she placed her hands on her hips. What was the worst that could happen.

“Fine! Let’s go,” Amber hurried her quickly. Noah wouldn’t be preoccupied forever and it was quite a walk down to the cells. “You owe me on my next day off!” Amber insisted as they made it to the end do the hallway and exited a small door out into the castle grounds.

Walking along to the far side of the grounds they soon came to a rocky outcrop with a small guard hut occupied by two burly men.

One of them stood and waited as the girls approached, “what are you doing here Amber? You aren’t in uniform.” He seemed rather gruff and grumpy as he eyed the pair suspiciously.

“I would like to see Medea.” Indie responded before Amber could so much as breathe.

“And who in the hell are you?” He demanded with a growl.

Amber in response glowered at him and felt a rumble in her throat, “show some respect to your queen!” She barked as the man’s eyes grew wide and his gaze dropped towards the grass he stood on.

“Apologies ma’am I-i” he stammered for words that didn’t quite form and when he failed to find words he just stood there silently.

“It’s fine,” Indie brushed it off and shrugged her shoulders. “Can I go see her?” She questioned him again.

He nodded his head and stepped aside but Amber was not happy with the man, “radio ahead and tell them we’re coming. I want to be in and out as quickly as possible.” Amber seemed uneasy as the man let them pass. Amber took Indies hand and pulled her back, “I go first. You stay behind me.” She urged her charge quickly. If anything happened and Indie was hurt it would be Amber that paid for it.

The rocky outcrop dropped off down a steep side. A river lay at the bottom and it looked turbulent and rough at best. The water frothed and foamed from the strong currents beneath. Metal steps were beaten into the side of the rock and a metal chain link fence kept people from falling over the side. Amber took each step carefully, mindful that it was sometimes treacherous for smaller people like Indie.

A large platform at the bottom of the stairs had been carved from the rock and a guard stood with a very heavy looking metal gate open at his side. He gave a slight nod as the two women entered. As soon as it was safe to he swung the door shut and stood guard. Another man stood just inside the door and watched the girls, “straight down to the silver door,” he informed the girls as Amber muttered a quick thanks.

The further in they got the smaller the place felt. The prison entry had been carved from the gigantic granite stone the castle sat on and small, narrow corridors lead off in all directions. The air felt stuffy and stale and Indie felt as though her airwaves were closing. How could anyone be comfortable working in such a place?

Before long the pair made it to a silver door and pressed a red button at the side. It slid open to reveal something completely unexpected. A room that was modern and completely unlike where they had come from.

“The walk in is the worst part. It’s better from here,” Amber turned and smiled at Indie who was utterly bewildered.

At a small desk another man stood and bowed at Indie. He was much smaller than the men they had walked passed and didn’t seem to fit. “Welcome Miss Indie, such a pleasure to meet you” he greeted her enthusiastically. “If there is anything you need please let me know. I will be happy to assist you in any way I can.”

Taking a glance at Amber, Indie laughed awkwardly. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” she replied quickly as the man milled around awkwardly.

“Are you going show us in Andrew or you gonna stand there looking like a clown?” Amber scolded him quickly as she narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She was really uneasy.

Indie didn’t miss the change in Amber’s attitude as she turned to her slightly, “what’s the matter? Are you alright?”

Shaking her head Amber frowned, “I don’t like being in here. This place gives me the creeps.” Amber shuddered at the thought of it. “I’d much rather prefer being somewhere I can see the sky and feel the sun on my skin.” Indie didn’t quite understand it but it made sense why Amber was rushing.

The man, Andrew, walked towards another door that was carved into the granite. “Down the corridor and the last on your right. You can’t miss it.” He exclaimed enthusiastically again as he opened the door with a set of complex looking keys. Waving them off quickly he soon returned to his station.

“He seems nice,” Indie commented as the girls strode down the corridor of stone. It was much larger than the entry they had come through and even though it tbe cells were carved into the rock it was not at all what Indie had expected.

Amber scoffed, “you know he’s a vampire right?” She questioned her superior quickly.

All Indie could do was stare open mouthed at Amber, “I’m sorry....say again?” She asked in disbelief. She didn’t know vampires existed. Amber just laughed and shook her head.

“You guys over in Stoneden and Aspen must be so clueless huh? I guess it’s nice being in such a sheltered place though.” It was one of many things Amber envied about Indie. She would have loved to have come from somewhere so normal, somewhere so innocent and sheltered from the rest of the world.

Walking to the end of the corridor there were two cells either side. On one side it was empty and when they turned to the cell they were told Medea was in Indie couldn’t help but jump back in surprise.

There pressed up against the bars was a crazed looking woman with a grin on her face.

“So this is my replacement!” She proclaimed loudly as she stepped back cackling. “I was wondering how long it would take you to come see me.”

Indie noticed her eyes were dark and she had heavy bags from no sleep. She seemed gaunt and ill cared for and though she had mislead Noah the poor treatment seemed rather extreme and unnecessary.

“I need you to answer a few questions.” Indie demanded quickly.

“If you do not ask you will never know,” Medea replied rather cryptically.

“Who forced you to deceive Noah?” Indie didn’t waste any time getting to the reason why she was there. She knew someone had either forced Medea in to doing what she had done or she was tricked. Indie didn’t know what gave her the impression that Medea was innocent and she didn’t know for sure if she truly was innocent but Indie just knew that Medea couldn’t have done it alone.

The woman she questioned cackled rather insanely at Indie. She shook her head from side to side and her curly hair bounced atop her head, “I dare not tell you,” she laughed in a childish voice. “For if I betray, they die.” Medea clapped her hands together and laughed childishly again.

“Okay,” Amber commented quickly, “color me pretty fucking interested.” She hadn’t seen Medea since her incarceration and by the looks of things she hadn’t adapted well but it wasn’t her appearance that caught Amber’s attention it was her words.